Hello,
My original lease is set to end on May 31st (I renewed it from last year), but my roommate who is here on a visa doing research has to return to her home country April 1st, and my landlord requires approval for any subletting of the apartment. After sending numerous emails and leaving voicemails for him, the landlord asked if we can agree to terminate the lease as of April 30th, but that he won't let me renew the lease for another year as he intends to put the building on the market.
I cannot afford to pay the rent on my own for the month of April, and then moving costs on top of that. I found and was approved for an apartment starting April 1, and am now trying to get my landlord to respond to my emails and voicemails again saying I want to move for April 1 instead of May 1. The only information about early termination in my lease is that the terms have to be agreed upon by the tenant and landlord, but there is nothing stating that I have to pay a fee, etc. if I leave early.
My question is, what happens if my landlord refuses to acknowledge my intent to move April 1? He is making it impossible for me to stay here and also afford a new apartment as he won't approve a sublet for the second bedroom, and is selling the unit so I cannot find someone to take over my lease for the month of April and beyond.
What can I do to make sure I get all of my deposits etc. back? Really not sure what the law says for this sort of thing.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Ending lease
Sorry, but your landlord is not under any obligation to allow you to terminate the lease early. As you may know, if you break your lease, your landlord is then obligated by MA law to make reasonable efforts to find a new tenant. However, given that we are talking about one month, and that, even if the landlord was not planning on selling the building, he would need time to clean up the unit, advertise, interview, etc., I'm not optimistic about your chances of recovering that rent. However, you can always take the landlord to housing court and ask the judge to decide if the landlord acted reasonably with respect to the security deposit. Also, in many cases, landlords do not follow the law with respect to taking and keeping security deposits. If that is the case in your situation, you may have leverage to recover the money. Good luck.